Second Best
by It'sFridayI'mInLove
Summary: Of course it would end up like this. OF COURSE, she knew it would. Sam's been second best...will she always be? Kinda sad. Just Sam's perspective on things.


'_Is it too late for you to love me?'_

Of course she had to hear that. OF COURSE, she had to walk around the corner just in time to catch him saying that to her. And it tore her apart inside. Because it was exactly what she knew would happen. She knew that some day it would go back to this; him desperately crushing on her while she was slowly pushed further and further into the background.

Was it so wrong for her to believe he could actually like her, let alone love her?

Clearly. Because here she was, hiding behind a wall, trying to pretend she hadn't just heard him ask her best friend if it was too late for her to love him. And also because Sam Puckett never gets the happy ending. Nope, never, not possible.

So she plastered a smile on her face, as she was so used to doing by now and ran over to her two 'best friends' to tell them she'd found the formerly shirtless kid they were looking for in the basement and resisted the urge to go home, curl up in a ball in her bed and sob while watching Full House re-runs. (She'd tell people she was watching an MMA fight though, obviously. She has to keep her rep slightly intact.)

'_Is it too late for you to love me?'_

Of course those words weren't still playing on her mind. OF COURSE, she wasn't sitting there, staring at the back of Freddie's head, just hoping she could figure out what was going on inside his head, (besides all the tech and dorky stuff, that would give her a headache) and see if there was anything at all there about the relationship they'd previously shared, or if the 'baby's' and 'cuteness' and 'Sammy's' he'd called her had just been scribbled out with a big black marker and were replaced with CARLY.

"Sam, are you okay?" The voice of the very same Carly Shay said, bringing Sam out of her thoughts. "You've just been staring into the kitchen for like, ten minutes now."

Sam shook her head and landed back down on planet earth, before smiling weakly at Carly. "I'm fine, Carls." She reassured.

But was she fine? No, she wasn't. She really wasn't 'fine' and hadn't been since that night in the elevator when she stupidly let the guy she was ridiculously, stupidly, so-crazy-I'm-going-to-check-myself-into-a-mental-hospital in love with slip right through her fingers.

And especially not now that he'd moved back onto the girl he'd 'loved' for as long as she could remember. She had to put the imaginary air quotes around the word 'loved' every time she thought about it, otherwise it was like suicide. She was killing herself just by associating a word he'd once said to her with the perfect girl she called her best friend.

In Sam's mind, there was no doubt about it that Carly Shay was perfect. Perfect hair, perfect smile, perfect grades, perfect personality. Perfect everything. That word was used too loosely nowadays, but not when it came to Carly. It was the only way to describe her. She got everything Sam needed, everything Sam wanted and even the things Sam didn't even know she wanted (Freddie).

It was like there were two Melanie's. And one Melanie was hard enough to cope with.

It's not like Sam hadn't tried to be like Carly, because she really had. She'd tried the girly thing, which ended up with her being dumped because she could beat the guy in arm wrestling. She tried the not insulting thing, which ended up with her driving herself to the brink of madness and wasting all the money she'd received all in once, just so she could come up with a bunch of insults she didn't even really mean. And she'd tried the good grades things, which ended up with her…still getting an F and then burning a text book in a make-shift fire in her garden.

So don't you dare say she hadn't tried.

Carly got all the guys too. It wasn't as if Sam wanted the guys Carly had dated (as hot as Griffin was and as sweet as Steven seemed before he was found out as a cheating liar) but it would be nice to be looked at once in a while, jeez!

Freddie looked at her…the way that not many boys did. But then all of a sudden, after 2 hours in an elevator, severely chapped lips and 'I love you's' mumbled to one another, it was 'bye bye' to Sam and 'hello again' to Carly.

Sam was just a distraction. A bump in the road. An obstacle in his 'Freddie Benson master plan.' That kid was going to take over the world one day, she was sure of it. He was as close to a genius as anyone could get.

"Seriously, Sam!" Carly said, once again bringing Sam back to reality. "What is up with you? Why are you totally blanking out?"

With another weak smile, Sam said; "I'm fine, Carly. I really am."

NOT.

'_Is it too late for you to love me?'_

Of course Carly had some sort of feelings for Freddie. OF COURSE, because…have you seen him? Or met him? Everyone seemed to have feelings for Fredward Benson lately. Including Carly. Even if they were only 'oh-my-god-you-have-biceps-so-now-you're-hot' feelings that every other girl in school had for him. Or maybe it was something more…

Sam wouldn't dare go down that route though. She just couldn't. Every time she tried to think about it, her eyes would sting and she'd feel a sharp pain in her chest and she'd have the urge to have a 'teenage meltdown' like you saw in the movies and want to throw something breakable at her door with an alarming force (the same force she used when arm wrestling, which incidentally made Pete break up with her.) And if the breaking of something valuable didn't work, like the vase that had been sitting on her window, full of the dead flowers that Freddie had given her way back on their first date, she'd go for the second option of sitting on her floor, holding tightly onto a picture of her and Freddie when things were easier and simpler and just cry until she felt empty inside. Which wouldn't be hard, as she always felt empty ever since…that night.

She could accept (kinda) that Freddie had feelings for Carly. It was kind of a given that he always would considering he'd spent half of his life chasing after her like a little puppy. If she ignored the time her and Freddie dated, Sam could accept that he 'liked' her. Simply because she never thought Carly would like him back, other than when he was her foreign bacon. Accepting that Freddie had moved on…well, moved back to the girl who Sam always came second best to was difficult, but thinking of Carly actually feeling the same way was basically impossible to even get her head around. Because it hurt her head, and her heart too much.

'_Is it too late for you to love me?'_

Of course Carly knew something was up with Sam. OF COURSE, she'd seen the tired, drained expressions on her best friend's usually bright and happy face. She could see the sadness in her eyes and the spark that was once there was gone. And she decided to call her up on this.

The trio were hanging out at Carly's place (when weren't they?) after school one day, and Sam was on her way back from the bathroom when Carly grabbed her arm and pulled her out into the hallway.

"What was that about?" Sam exclaimed in confusion.

"I need to talk to you." Carly said calmly. "Something's up with you Sam, I know there is. I know something's bothering you. I can't remember the last time I saw you smile."

Sam sighed. "There's just a lot on my mind lately."

"Like what?"

"Stuff."

Carly rolled her eyes. "Wow, that wasn't vague."

Sam sighed again, this time more deeply and turned to walk away. "Look, I'm just gonna go home, alright? I'll see you at school tomorrow."

As she was walking, Carly reached out and grabbed Sam's arm, pausing her for a second. She gave her the famous 'Carly Shay puppy dog eyes' and Sam felt her resolve caving.

"Please Sam?" She begged. "Just tell me what's wrong."

Sam closed her eyes and prayed to whatever God was up there that she wasn't going to cry. PUCKETT'S DON'T CRY.

"You." She answered. "And Freddie. You and Freddie."

Carly let go of Sam's arm and allowed her to walk away, understanding almost immediately what she meant…

So Sam did exactly what she told herself not to do. She went home and broke that vase, getting rid of the flowers that had been there, dead, much like her relationship with Freddie for way too long now. She grabbed a tub of ice cream and put on those Full House re-runs and she sat on the floor and hugged that picture so tight that the corners were crinkled and she forgot the thousands of times her mother had told her that 'Puckett's didn't cry' and she may or may not have sobbed herself to sleep.

So what if Carly and Freddie were going to ride off into the sunset together one day, leaving Sam behind broken and lonely? And anyway, she'd obviously always pictured herself as that old lazy with 20 cats that everyone was scared of and who never got visitors. She'd let her two friends be happy if the heartache stopped.

She'd just have to try and not jump in front of them as they drove away, breaking down and begging Freddie to take her back, telling him how much she loved him and needed him and how she'd try to be a better girlfriend. She couldn't do this though. Because Sam Puckett's didn't beg for anything, especially not boys. And they didn't change because someone told them to (even though she was a lot more normal after…that night). And Sam Puckett's didn't even bother competing with Carly Shay's because the Carly Shay's in the world would always win.

And she most definitely didn't get the happy ending girls dream about. She would not live happily ever after with Freddie Benson, as much as she wanted to.

Nope, never, not possible.

'_I love you.' 'I love you too.'_


End file.
